


Magnetism

by mm8



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Insomnia, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-14
Updated: 2012-07-14
Packaged: 2017-11-09 23:07:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/459491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mm8/pseuds/mm8
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Doctor has a nightmare in the middle of the night, he walks around the TARDIS until he finds that his newest companion can't sleep either.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Magnetism

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally written for Summer Holidays Round 3 at [Winter Companion](http://wintercompanion.livejournal.com/) and for [HC_Bingo](http://hc-bingo.livejournal.com/) Round 2. Many thanks to my beta [Czarina_Kitty](http://czarina-kitty.livejournal.com/).

He was running through the red grass. The sun was high in the sky and it was a beautiful day. There was a huge smile on his face and he was laughing, truly laughing. He was chasing his youngest grandchild, who was toddling and waving her chubby little arms. He picked her up by her armpits and tossed her in the air. His face melted into horror when he saw the sky. It was _burning_. There were warships clashing and, Rassolin, the screams of a million people, _his_ people. He held his granddaughter to his chest and shrieked in dread when he gazed upon the child in his arms, her flesh charred and eyes staring blanking into nothingness. He heard a familiar war chant coming from behind. It's almost like four rhythmic drumbeats. He can finally make out the words… EX-TER-MIN-ATE. EX-TER-MIN-ATE. Spinning around, he saw thousands of Dalek troops. His scream is just one among the many as a thousand Dalek beams fired straight at him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Doctor bolted upright in a cold sweat. He ran his hand over his scalp. Immediately he noticed that his bed was completely soaked with sweat and his sheets were in a heap on the floor. It'd been so long since he'd dreamt about Gallifrey. He hadn't had such a jarring dream since he encountered the lone Dalek at that museum in Utah, 2012. The Doctor recalled that Rose had been there to comfort him that night. Apparently, she could hear his screams from her bedroom three corridors away. He perked up his ears, listening intently. He let out an audible sigh. It appeared that if he had yelled in his sleep this time, either Rose hadn't heard him or he hadn't cried out loud enough.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and began collecting his ruined bed sheets. They were his favorite sheets too, he thought mournfully. He went to his closet to see what other sheets he had left. His face fell as his eyes gazed on his last set of clean sheets. Rassolin, he _hated_ those sheets. They were mauve colored. Who had decided they needed the color 'mauve' anyway? It wasn't purple, it wasn't red… He'd only kept the sheets all these years because they were a gift from his favorite uncle. He frowned, remembering his dream and the reality of the destruction of his race. Putting his thoughts and feelings aside, he took the sheets and fitted them on his bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unable to fall back to sleep (he seriously thought the mauve bed sheets were distracting), he began to wonder the TARDIS aimlessly. She hummed and glowed wherever he walked. He could tell she was concerned. The Doctor brushed a hand against the wall and whispered, "I'm _fine_. Really." But even his sentiments didn't stop her from worrying. 

Like always, when he found himself walking about the ship, he ended up in the console room. He could even try _not_ to go to the console room but he would eventually still go there. It was such a wonder to him that this was inevitable. His only guess was that there was some sort of magnetism between him and that room, like the console room was at one end of the magnetic spectrum and he was at the other. They couldn't help but be attracted to each other. 

The Doctor stopped short when he arrived in the console room. He quickly saw that he wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep tonight. Captain Jack, or whatever his true name was, the con artist he and Rose had saved in World War Two England only a few days ago. Rose had definitely been charmed by the Captain's good looks and charisma. But the Doctor was a little more suspicious. He had grown more cautious of the people he met the older he got. And with Jack being a professional con artist, there was plenty to be suspicious of. There was something about the Captain, he had to admit. He had some sincerity about him. After all, he was going to sacrifice his life to save him and Rose and atone for his misdeeds. 

Jack was sitting cross-legged on the floor, his back against the console. He was wearing nothing but a pair of white boxer shorts. His Vortex Manipulator was lying on the floor in front of him, acting as a projector, showing Jack an image of what looked like a beach. The picture was moving, the waves crashing against the shore, little children making sand castles. But there was no sound, the Doctor noted. A little boy appeared close up on the screen and began to wave at what the Doctor assumed to be the camera. A beautiful woman with long brown hair came from on from stage-left, picked up the little boy and began to kiss his cheeks as the boy struggled with embarrassment. A small toddler who resembled both the woman and the little boy came on screen and clung onto the woman's left leg. 

The Doctor felt an itch in the back of his throat and, without thinking, gave a little cough.

Jack gasped and quickly switched off the image on the Vortex Manipulator. "Doc, what are you doing here?"

The Doctor stepped out of the shadows and could now see Jack more clearly. The young man had fresh tears on his cheeks, which he was hastily wiping away. 

"Couldn't sleep. Just like you, I suppose." He sat down next to Jack, leaning against the console, hearing the TARDIS hum as he did so. "Why'd you come all the way down here? There are loads of rooms you could have gone too. Swimming pool, movie theater, laundry room, library… I've got six libraries, you know. That I've found anyway." He chuckled.

"Laundry room?" Jack raised an eyebrow. "You suggest I spend my sleepless night locked up in a laundry room?"

"Yeah, laundry room." the Doctor said matter-of-factly. "I got some stuff I need cleaning, you want to do it?" Without getting so much as a courtesy chuckle from Jack, he sighed. "What were you watching then? A home video?" No response from the other man. "Is that your family, then? Wife and kids?"

"No," the Captain said through his teeth. He bent down and turned on the Vortex Manipulator once more. The video appeared again, starting from the point where it had been left before it had been shut off. Now the woman put the older boy down, much to his relief, and picked up the younger child, swinging him around in her arms. Jack pointed to the older boy who was now looking enviously at the toddler. "That’s me. Around… oh eight years old. And that's my mom and my little brother, Gray." He paused. "My father is the one filming."

"Bet you had to use a lot of suntan lotion," the Doctor offered to break the tense air. "You're so pale compared to the rest of your family."

The Doctor watched as the woman, Jack's mother, set down Gray who was kicking his legs and waving his arms. When his feet were barely touching the ground, Gray ran and tackled Jack, hugging him and even kissing his cheek. 

"He went missing a few years after this was taken, my brother." Jack sniffled. "There was a war… and I lost him. He was my responsibility and I lost him. Never saw him again. He was just a little kid…"

The Doctor was surprised when Jack sobbed openly. It struck him that this really could be part of some elaborate con. But in his hearts, he knew that Jack's pain was genuine… because he felt the same pain too. Not knowing what else to do, he wrapped his arms around Jack, and let the Captain weep into his shoulder. He stroked Jack's hair and rocked him like a baby. "It's okay, it's okay. I'm here now," he whispered softly. 

Unexpectedly, Jack leaned up and kissed the Doctor fully. The Doctor was shocked. He knew that 51st century people were more sensitized to sex, it was as normal as saying 'hello' to your doorman. He took note that Jack was being gentle, tender. He was being careful with his actions, almost as if he were memorizing this moment. But just as soon as this passed through his thoughts, Jack pulled away, and tucked himself against the Doctor's shoulder.

"I don't want to be alone tonight," was all the Captain said.

The Doctor lifted his chin and kissed him, why he wasn't sure. He stared into Jack's sad blue eyes. "You don't have to be alone…"

He carried Jack back to his bed room. They held each other all through the night, fitting perfectly like two adjoining puzzle pieces. The Doctor comforted Jack's broken heart and whether he knew it or not, Jack helped heal him as well. 

And the Doctor had to acknowledge that the ugly mauve bed sheets did look a lot better with Jack in them…

**Author's Note:**

> * Kudos are amazing and I will never stop asking for them, but getting comments, actual feedback from readers means so much. Taking five seconds out of your time can really make my day.
>   
> 
> * You can follow me on [tumblr](http://mm8fic.tumblr.com/).
>   
> 


End file.
